French Onion Soup

Ingredients

• ●4 tablespoons butter
• ●4 large yellow onions (about 2½ pounds), halved and thinly sliced
• ●1 teaspoon salt
• ●1 teaspoon sugar (helps the caramelization along)
• ●2 cloves garlic, minced
• ●½ cup dry white wine or dry sherry
• ●6 cups beef stock (homemade if possible — it makes a difference here)
• ●1 tablespoon fresh thyme leaves (or 1 teaspoon dried)
• ●1 bay leaf
• ●Freshly ground black pepper
• ●*For serving:**
• ●4 thick slices crusty bread (baguette or sourdough), toasted
• ●2 cups Gruyère cheese, grated (Swiss works too)

Method

1. Melt the butter in a large, heavy-bottomed pot or Dutch oven over medium heat. Add the onions and salt. Stir to coat.
2. Cook the onions, stirring every 5 minutes, for 35 to 45 minutes. This is the part you can't rush. They'll go from raw to translucent to golden to a deep amber brown. If they start to stick, add a splash of water and scrape the bottom — those brown bits are flavor.
3. After about 20 minutes, add the sugar. This helps the caramelization but isn't the source of the sweetness — the onions themselves are.
4. When the onions are deeply caramelized and reduced to about a quarter of their original volume, add the garlic. Cook for 1 minute.
5. Pour in the wine. Scrape the bottom of the pot to deglaze. Cook until the wine has mostly evaporated, about 2 minutes.
6. Add the stock, thyme, and bay leaf. Bring to a boil, then reduce to a gentle simmer. Cook, partially covered, for 20 minutes. Season with pepper and adjust salt.
7. To serve: Preheat your broiler. Ladle the soup into oven-safe bowls set on a baking sheet. Place a toasted bread slice on top of each bowl. Pile generously with Gruyère.
8. Broil for 2 to 4 minutes, until the cheese is melted, bubbly, and browned in spots. Watch carefully — it goes from perfect to burned quickly.
9. Serve immediately. Warn everyone that the bowls are volcanic.
10. *Storage:** The soup base (without bread and cheese) keeps refrigerated for 5 days or frozen for 3 months. Assemble with bread and cheese just before serving.
11. *Seasonal note:** Use yellow onions — they have the highest sugar content and caramelize the best. Sweet onions (like Vidalias) actually have more water and less complex sugar, so they don't develop as much depth. And use real stock. Bouillon cubes will make a thin, salty soup. Real beef stock makes a rich, complex one.